The Result

I am starting this blog at 6.30am having stayed up most of the night watching the results come in. So far I am not overly surprised with the results to be honest.

The Conservatives have done slightly better than I think many of us thought they would, gaining 16 seats, giving them 31 seats in total, to become the second largest party. It looks like many of the voters who deserted them for New Labour have returned bolstering their result a bit. Ruth ‘nasty’ Davidson has surprisingly won her constituency seat in Edinburgh and they have won a few others. Jackson Carlow, Murdo Fraser etc. have been returned via the pain in the arse list system. The media are portraying this as a Conservative recovery in Scotland, it is in some ways as basically Scotland has divided along the constitutional question of YES and NO as many of us said it would in our blogs, myself included (maybe I’m not as thick as I thought). But I do think this is down to returning labour voters in the main.

The Labour Party have had a total disaster losing 13 seats, giving them 24 in total,nothing else can describe this result for them other than a total nightmare. It is really sad that people like Lamont, Kelly, and Findlay have been returned via the list. Even sadder for me is that the plank Anus Sarwar has been elected via the list after being rejected in the General Election last year and saying that Holyrood is an undemocratic place. The fact that people like Sarwar get elected shows how much trouble British Labour in Scotland is in right now. Baillie keeping her seat is a real disappointment, 109 votes; she is such a vacuous and nasty individual that Scotland would be better without her in politics in our country. Where do they go from here, probably further down I suspect. Dugdale will remain as leader, not winning her constituency damages her, but the party is in such a mess they just can’t have another branch manager contest right now. There is a civil war going on in the Labour Party between right and left, who wins nobody knows and even probably less care.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have not done well overall,staying on 5 seats, but maybe not as bad as I certainly thought they would. Willie Rennie winning his constituency has surprised me but they will have lost out on the list because of it so no real gain. Alex Cole Hamilton winning in Edinburgh is a slight surprise as I find him to be dim to say the least and one of the most uninspiring wannabes I have ever heard. He is no gain to the Scottish Parliament. The Liberals have gained two constituency seats so they will portray this as some kind of victory. I suppose in some ways it is a personal victory for Willie Rennie as he won in his constituency, he will of course blow it out of all proportion, they are now behind the Greens so overall the Liberals have not really done that well. What I would say though is that there has been no LibDemFightback. Rennie will survive to fight another day but the party is going nowhere fast.

The Greens will be very happy with how they have done on the list and may work with the SNP in parliament and hopefully continue to support the independence cause. Getting 6 seats and becoming the fourth party will give them a boost. The Greens split opinion with some thinking they are light on independence, and Patrick Harvie loving himself a bit too much but I am not sure. I have always had a soft spot for them as I agree with some of their policies but I do think it is a party with a mixed membership coming at their positions from different political strands.

I said in my previous blog that I thought the SNP would be one or two seats short of a majority and so it has turned out to be, they have 63 seats. This was based on the various blogs I read, opinion polls, talking to people etc. but they won’t be disappointed too much. They will form the next Scottish Government; they will have to do some deals here and there but won’t get any opposition from the Tories on tax specifically as both ran on not raising taxes, so they should get their budget through with a tweak here and there. Nicola Sturgeon will remain First Minster and that is a good thing as she is by far the best person for the job at this time.

Overall in my opinion a good result for the SNP, a historic third term in Holyrood. They now have to try to balance out the cuts that are coming our way and that won’t be easy. The Conservatives will be delighted, the media will scream that independence is dead (wrongly) but they will be the main opposition in parliament which does surprise me as I thought British Labour in Scotland would just hold onto second. The Greens will be delighted with the inroads they have made on the list and will have some role in the years ahead as far as influencing policy. The Scottish Liberal Democrats will be happy I suspect even though they have stood still and are now the fifth party in parliament. RISE etc. have not done anything as we knew they wouldn’t and the SSP have to really re-consider their involvement as they made a huge mistake joining RISE in the first place when there was potentially a place for them with the voters. Solidarity are finished.

Personally I had hoped the SNP would get a majority based on my belief in independence. We will have a more gender balanced parliament, but with so many successful candidates coming from all women short lists it always feels a little tokenistic and hollow in some ways to me. I’m glad it’s over as I have pretty much had enough for a few weeks until the EU Referendum really kicks in and Project Fear Two takes hold. There won’t be another referendum anytime soon unless England votes us out of the EU and even then it will not be guaranteed, however lets just wait and see on that one.

I continue to feel underwhelmed by the campaign, the ambition of the various parties and the result in most ways. I am disappointed that the Tories have made some inroads as they remain a disgusting party of scumbags in my opinion and the parliament will still have few personalities and too many drones. Hopefully the more passionate supporters on the YES side won’t start blaming everyone and their aunty for the SNP’s failure to win a majority but I suspect they will but let’s not lose sight of the fact we live in a democracy and people should vote for what they want and how they feel, that is a good thing.

Sorry for this being a long blog but I would love to hear what you think.

Lanark
I must admit I thought BLiS would have just made it into second place by the skin of their lies. I suspect that some of the Tories who moved to new Labour moved back and also tactical voting, I’m with you, how in Gods earth can the likes of Baillie, Sarwar, Grey, Lamont and Kelly get re-elected, even via the list. The party can never hope to recover as long as that dead wood of hate are still in place and even the few successes they had looked like Blairites that were elected. Naw they are pretty much finished now unless they embrace independence and soon.

I’ve even had a go at a few Lib Dems on Facebook who were celebrating the Tories coming second, wtf is that about. Some saying independence dead and all that shit they are fed by the Pravda media. The plus side for me is that I think the SNP will actually govern better with no majority and the Tories finishing second now clearly makes it between YES and NO, Holyrood and Westminster, Davidson has no hiding place now so lets see how long that stupid grin stays on her face.

Hi Bruce. I was pretty down about the result yesterday, but now beginning to think it’s good for the Indy movement that we have the tories as the main opposition. She did go all out for the unionist vote (it was the only thing she said as far as I can remember) and as many are saying, she wanted Scotland versus the tories, now she has it, she must provide action after all the talk. She somehow managed to hide the fact that she is a tory throughout the campaign, well she can’t hide it now.

Despite the EUref going on, we are still a kipperless zone, which is hugely comforting.

Labour finally got what they deserve, the only drawback being the Blairite nutters throughout UKLab will blame it on Corbyn, but he seems to be surviving all the savagery they are turning on him. If only they opposed the tories with the passion they are opposing their leader!

Hopefully the Greens will be constructive, and will support indyref2 if there is a reason and very clear popular support. However they do seem to be far too idealistic and impractical, but glad that John Finnie and Andy Wightman are among them. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

I think you are correct, its now Yes v No Holyrood v Westminster in all it’s glory. Now people will see how little power Holyrood has compared to Westminster and every time NS puts we Ruthie under pressure she will have to admit she agrees with Tory policy on a lot of things. The unionists, and some disgusting Liberals I have chatted to online, will be eating their words soon enough.

Labour made their bed so have to lay in it now. What is really disappointing is that so many who were rejected by the voters are still there on the list and that will continue to be their undoing. People like Baillie and Lamont are toxic and Findlay is a fake socialist, but you know what I just don’t care that much about them anymore, the are finished. The Liberals are finished also, so much for Rennie’s all women short list, the man is a plank. They are finished as they no longer matter anymore. I’m not bothered to be honest as there is no Liberal Party in Scotland although I still think Scotland needs Liberalism, it is the balance between extremes that makes sense to me, we just don’t have a party to support.

I totally agree with you. Right now (ie before indy) I don’t care overmuch, but it’s when we come to the new Scotland that we will really need such a party. I fear that so many bridges have been burned by Labour and LibDdems that there will be no way back for them, even then.

The Tories will survive, as always, Labour will be replaced by some (hopefully credible) conglomeration of the left, but not so sure where a new liberal party will come from. That for me is the real negative that the current shower of LibDems have done for the future of Scotland.

Sue
They never thought it through at all during the referendum. I have no time for Gordon Brown but he did warn the Labour Party in Scotland not to campaign side by side with Tories, not saying that would have saved them but it would certainly have avoided some of their problems now. But Labour in Scotland are finished, they either die or they form some sort of new left party, possibly with the SSP and the more right wing nutters like Baillie can just go home to the Tories.

The Liberal Democrats gave up on their core principle of Federalism by not insisting on a federal question, they knew what the answer would be, a resounding yes and even if the Tories refused to consider it then they should have said in that case we will support independence. No back bone at all but again people like Rennie, the guy they just elected Cole would not be out of place in the Tories in the main. I agree with you on where a new Liberal Party comes from in the event of independence, I don’t know either but they are on the slippery slope and just as toixic as Labour with less profile.

The Tories being the main opposition at Holyrood offers all sorts of advantages to the cause of independence as the choice will be clear for all to see. Unionism will be indistinguishable from the indefensible attacks by the Westminster Tory government, and their lackeys led by Ruth Davidson, on the living standards of ordinary Scottish people. Labour will be seen as the discredited spent force they are and drive their few remaining supporters into support for regaining our national sovereignty as a means to a fair and just society.

I totally agree, this is now a dividng line and there is no hiding place if the SNP play it smart. Davidson has her line in the sand. I also think a minority Government will keep the SNP on their toes and honest, today there is a story about job adverts being placed by INEOS for fracking staff for Scotland. While licenses are issued via Westminster, of course, planning consent is Holyrood. The SNP cannot allow fracking, that will alienate the Greens, but more importantly piss off the voters who have been shown in various polls to be against. Now I would expect fracking to be removed from planning consent in Scotland by Westminster soon in some late night bloody vote that won’t get reported, but the SNP have got to sit tight and wait for Westminster to back their friends and show the Scottish voters how much they care.

Labour in Scotland are finished, the fact that voters rejected the likes of Kelly, Baillie, McKintosh, Dugdale, Lamont , Findlay etc in the constituency vote but get them anyway via the list is just plain wrong and will backfire on them in the long run. Kezia Dugdale is probably a nice enough person, I certainly don’t think she is filled with the hate that Baillie/Lamont have, but she should have worked really hard to clean out the party and start again. She is weak overall and I would not be surprised if in fighting is running the Labour Party in Scotland right now.

There is no doubt about it, this is the best of all worlds for the Indy cause. A sharp government playing off the different parties against each other and only needing two votes to majority; a very popular, in UK terms, leader who is head and shoulders above any Westminster leader in the trust department; a possible Brexit (although I hope not because of the insignificant complications that would give our exporters[including me), but what it would do is point up the divergence between Scotland and the others.
There is also a current of opinion in Westminster that Scotland is already on its way to Independence, so we will see how Westminster fares against the sovereign will of the Scottish people.
I just wish we could do something about the appalling state of political broadcasting in Scotland.

I agree, I am not upset with the result at all and I really wish some on the YES would stop being silly and blaming the Greens and blogs for the fact the SNP did not get a majority. It does not harm the independence argument in my opinion as the argument is not the SNP, no matter how much the media want to play it that way. The YES argument will be built with patience, good arguments and sound governance. That is the way ahead. People should also vote for what they want, I split my vote and always have done at every Holyrood election, I voted for what I wanted to see and that is how it should be. Yes the end game is independence but we will only get the soft No’s on board by good governance and minority government in my opinion keeps the SNP honest and on their toes.

I’m not sure a Brexit would trigger another referendum, and to be honest while I am a soft remain I will vote to remain. My reason for doing so is not some love affair with the EU or any of that. I think the EU is as corrupt and inept than Westminster but I don’t want to be left to the ravishes of the Tory party without EU law to protect against some of their right wing, elitist, and Victorian nightmare bollocks that they are determined to bring about to protect their own narrow interests. I have given up on the media in the main, most of my news comes from blogs and Twitter. I also buy the National most days but not because it is particularly good but because it is the only paper supporting independence, other than the Sunday herald, but it does stick in my throat a little that the money goes to that Herald group as that paper is a joke.

Labour is in the wrong place on the constitution. There may be an approximately 50/50 split these days, but the areas most likely to vote labour are those most likely to vote YES. It’s simply an uncomfortable state of affairs for Slab. They seem to be split between those who say that they should have been more unionist, and those who say they should have been less unionist. Perhaps they need to stop and think about what they actually believe in, rather than what will get them votes. Then people might be inspired by them.

I was surprised about the Northern Islands. The Liberals have made their situation very clear up there. They continue to support Alistair the Liar, and those who supported him. But to go from 4th party to 5th must have been as much of a blow to them as it was for Labour to go from 2nd to 3rd.

Ruth has done well, She hoovered up the unionist vote big time. Standing on tanks and supporting Trident and war seems to have done her good with some 500,000 people in Scotland. Who knew there were so many warmongers in our country?

She says she’s in the John Major mould of Conservatism, but she uses the images of Thatcher to get elected. Slightly embarrassing for her too that she was obliged to almost obliterate the words “Conservative” and “Tory” from all her election material.

She’s made some rather silly statements about how she is going to stop another referendum. There may or may not be one, but if there is not, a party with 31 seats in a parliament of 128 (plus PO) is not going to be the reason. She may have to climb down or her bragging, given that the Greens are likely to have most in common with the SNP.

The SNP got more votes than ever before, and were elected for a third term with as near a majority as makes no difference. With Ken Mackintosh the PO, they have a minority of 1. Like or loathe them that is a good result.

If the Tories thought that had done well to double their seats, the Greens have done even better, and tripled theirs… and overtaken the Liberals to 4th place and major party status.

I don’t know where Labour go from here to be honest. They won’t support independence, they might try and go for the federal route but doubtful anyone will trust them. The other big problem they have is that the dead wood that has caused most of their problems were returned via the list. Marra was posting on Facebook all the things she allegedly does for Dundee so I reminded her that she actually lost the election. I despise the list and if we must keep it then candidates should not be allowed to stand on both, simple as that. If you are rejected in either then you are not elected, nothing will ever change until this does.

The Tories got the unionist/protest vote but they may well live to regret it, they might be under more scrutiny now if the media do even a little of their job but every time tank girl stands up we will be reminded they are Tories and NS is gonna have a lot of fun with that.

The Liberals may have stayed have stayed the same but they are not going to do anything and I thought the fact that all men were elected was funny after the song and dance about all women short lists they have zero females, and you don’t see Rennie giving up his seat or place on the list. No idea why the Islands continue to vote for them other than stupidity in many ways. The Greens as always will be hit and miss, not sure about a couple of their MSPs to be honest but they will be better than most.

The SNP need to play it smart, even I was getting a little sick of them at the end of the parliament, there was a lot of denial going on about the cuts and they needed to explain things better but I do take on board they face a hostile media that no other party has to contend with. There is no point in rushing into another referendum at this point, in many ways the union may do the job for us.